Guyana: TIGI calls for independent probe into allegations against Deputy Police Commissioner

Guyana: The Transparency International Guyana Inc. (TIGI) has on Monday October 5, 2026 called for an independent inquiry into rape allegations against the Deputy Police Commissioner Fazil Karimbaksh, head of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

The local chapter of the anti-corruption campaign group based in Germany said that the investigators and overseers of the process must be outside the jurisdiction of Karimbaksh’s authority and influence.

It called for a swift, credible and independent investigation into the allegations levelled against the senior police official.

TIGI therefore calls for an immediate, credible and independent investigation, with investigators and oversight demonstrably outside the authority, professional orbit and institutional influence of Deputy Commissioner Karimbaksh, the organisation said in a statement.

It further said that the Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) response that an internal police team was being constituted to investigate could not simply be accepted as independent.

The police force had not indicated what the terms of reference of the team would be, who the team would report to, or whether the team members would be junior to Karimbaksh.

In such circumstances, an investigation conducted by an undisclosed internal police team cannot simply be accepted as independent, impartial, or capable of commanding public confidence, the organisation added.

TIGI further observed that the complainant is a police officer, and that the allegations pertain to a senior-ranking officer at the head of one of the country’s most elite police units. It argued that, in light of these considerations, an internal and undisclosed police investigation commanded little public confidence.

Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Walrond has said that a police team would take statements and that a formal confrontation between the complainant and Karimbaksh would take place.

TIGI said that it did not have confidence in an unspecified police investigation which would assume responsibility for probing one of the country’s most senior security officials.

The public is being asked to trust a process without being told who will conduct it, whether the investigators are subordinate to the accused, what independent oversight exists, or how the complainant will be protected from intimidation, retaliation or re-traumatisation, the organisation said.

TIGI argued that the process would be in contravention of the Sexual Offences Act, particularly Section 42, which provides that a complainant cannot be forced to repeat an allegation in the presence of the accused, unless the complainant consents to it.

It called on the government and police to clarify whether a direct confrontation between the complainant and Karimbaksh had been proposed and if so, on what legal basis, and prove that they have taken measures to ensure the complainant's dignity and rights are not compromised.

Among its other demands, TIGI called for independent legal, psychosocial and protective support to be provided to the complainant, as well as appropriate safeguards for witnesses and a preservation of all relevant evidence, including communication records, duty schedules, electronic data, CCTV footage and other pertinent materials.

The organisation further called for Karimbaksh to be placed on administrative leave during the investigation, arguing that it would provide protection to the complainant.

TIGI called for the Police Service Commission to be reconstituted forthwith. In the meantime, the organisation called on President Irfaan Ali, the Police Commissioner, the Attorney General and Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Walrond to declare what lawful process would be used to place Karimbaksh on administrative leave to investigate the allegations without prejudice to his due process rights.